Why Cyprus Matters

People wait in line to use the ATM at a bank in the Cypriot capital Nicosia.

Patrick Baz
/ AFP/Getty Images

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Originally published on March 21, 2013 10:25 am

Banks on Cyprus remain closed today. The Cypriot Parliament has rejected the terms of a bailout from the European Union. The finance minister is in Moscow looking for financial help from the Russians.

Cyprus has about as many residents as the Bronx. When you add up all the country's banks, they don't even match the 30th largest bank in the U.S. But people all over the world have good reason to be freaked out over what's happened there this week.